Rayburn Eco-Connect System

The future of heating

Connecting traditional energy sources with the latest renewables
technology can be problematic, but here at Rayburn, we have the
answer - with the Eco-Connect.

The AGA Rayburn Eco-Connect Panel - the clever bit of technology
that can link everything together. It enables the interconnection
of different appliances, ensuring that energy is intelligently
drawn from the greenest source at all times without having to
fiddle with buttons and switches.

For British households, there has been no escaping the ever
increasing cost of heating our homes, especially for properties
that are off the gas grid and reliant on fossil fuels. In recent
years, this has led to a host of renewable heating products which
provide affordable options ideal for rural properties, with solar
hot water and wood burning stoves becoming particularly popular in
homes up and down the country.

However, for anyone who has had the foresight to install these
products, there has always been one perennial problem: how do they
all work together? In general, it is not always convenient to rely
entirely on renewables energy, as quite often it can be
insufficient when meeting the total heating and hot water demands
of the owner's lifestyle. In such cases the fossil fuelled
appliance has to be used as a backup, and although it has always
been possible to design a shared plumbing system, combining sealed
pipe work and traditional open-unvented systems can be a tough
challenge.

With this in mind, Rayburn has developed the Eco-Connect, which
allows interconnection of a renewable product - such as solid
fuel/wood burning appliance or solar hot water panels - with an
oil/gas fired boiler or a Rayburn central heating range cooker. The
new device consists of a wiring centre, pump station and a heat
exchanger, with associated motorised valves to which the various
flow and return pipe work and electrical connections are
made. Thermistors are used in conjunction with an intelligent
control panel to sense the water temperature of the flow and return
pipes and domestic hot water (DHW) cylinder. It also incorporates a
display panel showing the current operating status and which energy
source is being used.

In essence, hot water is diverted by the Eco-Connect to where it
is needed. And if the renewable appliance (e.g. wood burning stove)
is not giving sufficient output, then the automatic boiler or
central heating Rayburn will be brought into operation. Priority is
always automatically given to the renewable heat source.

So, for homeowners looking to incorporate renewables into their
properties, but still want the reliability and backup of a
traditional heating system, the Eco-Connect from Rayburn is the
perfect solution."

Click
here to see some comments from one of our Rayburn Eco-Connect
owners

Sustainable connections for Suffolk farmhouse
(Case Study)

Integrating existing heating and hot water systems with
renewables can often be problematic. So when retired businessman
Paul Browes wanted to connect a new wood-fired central heating
Rayburn with his pressurised oil-fired system, he found the
solution lay with AGA Rayburn's award winning Eco-Connect
panel.

Homeowner Paul Browes, who lives in a 16th century farmhouse in
Witnesham, Suffolk, was in for a surprise when he calculated the
annual oil costs of his ageing range cooker. Although it was only
used for cooking, it was guzzling over 400 litres of oil per month
with no way to reduce the consumption. All in all, it was setting
him back a whopping £200 per month in oil!

Instead of continuing on with the inefficient cooker, he set out
to limit his reliance on fossil fuels and embrace a more
sustainable way to heat his home. Paul looked to a wood-fired
central heating Rayburn to replace the cooker, and also supply a
renewable source of heating and hot water. He then called in Chris
Plant of Chris Plant Heating and Plumbing for advice on the models
available, as well as the possibility of linking it with the
existing oil boiler and a forthcoming solar thermal
installation.

After 35 years in the trade, Chris - who is a Rayburn Guild
member and runs his business in Framlingham, Suffolk - has plenty
of experience installing central heating range cookers. He
recommended the Rayburn 345W as the ideal model for Paul's needs,
as it not only provided excellent cooking capabilities with the
indirect, radiant heat from the cast iron construction, but also
more than met the heating and hot water requirements of the
property. Chris then discussed the most effective approach to
optimise the system for wood burning.

"The 345W was perfect for the heating and hot water
requirements, but with renewable heating the priority, we still
needed to maximise the Rayburn's output and minimise use of the
backup oil boiler," said Chris. "Paul had already set about
researching the options and had discovered the Eco-Connect from AGA
Rayburn. I knew it offered everything he was looking for and would
be a great investment; so we discussed it further and looked at the
system requirements."

Although it has always been possible to design a shared plumbing
system, there have always been inherent problems with devices
available to help heating engineers. For example, most modern
automatic boilers are designed to operate with sealed pipework
systems, but solid-fuel and wood appliances generally utilise a
traditional open-vented system - making it quite a tough challenge
to match the two systems together.

Householders also want to get maximum benefit from using
renewable energy, so the system needs to be controlled
automatically where preference is given to drawing from the
renewable source, rather than the fossil fuel. The Eco-Connect
panel solves all of these problems and makes connecting Rayburns,
renewables and traditional systems a simple job.

Paul's new installation ensures that the Eco-Connect biases the
wood-fired Rayburn as the primary source of heating and hot water.
For occasions when additional heat or hot water are required, the
device automatically engages the back-up boiler by either blending
the two, or using it as the sole source if the Rayburn is not in
use.

"When I first had the system installed it was difficult to
estimate how often the boiler would kick in," Paul explained. "As
it happens, it's only ever called upon if I have guests and the hot
water demand is higher than usual - and even then it's only for
five minutes every hour. Day to day we have it in eco mode and,
provided we keep the Rayburn well fuelled, it's the primary heat
source all year round, which means we don't have to use the boiler
at all."

Eco-Connect works with a diverse rangeof systems, including:
solar thermal, boilers, central heating range cookers, thermal
stores, heat pumps, underfloor heating, radiators and wood burning
stoves. The system comprises a wiring centre, pump station and a
heat exchanger with associated motorised valves to which the
various flow and return pipework and electrical connections are
made. Thermistors are used in conjunction with an intelligent
control panel to sense the water temperature of the flow and return
pipes and domestic hot water (DHW) cylinder. It also incorporates a
display panel showing the current operating status and which energy
source is being used - e.g. wood fired Rayburn or boiler.

Heat is diverted by the Eco-Connect to where it is needed e.g.
the hot water cylinder and/or the central heating circuits. If the
renewable appliance is not giving sufficient output, the fossil
fuelled boiler is brought into operation in a mixed mode. However,
if the homeowner has selected one of the 'eco' options, the boiler
will not automatically fire. This is particularly useful for
installations with solar thermal, so in Paul's case, he
incorporated a triple coil cylinder with a view to installing solar
thermal panels in the near future. Once completed, he expects this
to sufficiently produce enough DHW for the property without needing
the oil boiler at all.

David Carpenter, Rayburn's Technical Director, said: "We know
that Rayburn customers are a pragmatic and practical group of
people who want to get the very best from their heating systems.
But with the cost of fossil fuels on the rise, we've seen many
customers opt for a more self-sufficient approach with wood or
solid fuel Rayburns. Obviously, being able to link these products
to an existing central heating system, or even include solar and
wood burning stoves, is a great option and that's why we developed
the Eco-Connect panel.

"Paul's set up is just the sort of installation we envisaged
for this technology and we are really pleased to see it working
well and economically."

Rounding up the success of the installation, homeowner Paul
Browse described the improvements: "After a quick calculation, I
was astonished at the savings I'd made. We barely use oil anymore
and the Rayburn really has transformed the way we heat our
home.

"From an installation point of view, it initially took some
careful planning, but was simple enough to incorporate into the
existing system. And with the Eco-Connect panel already pre-set
with operating modes; I haven't really had to think about it since.
All in all we couldn't be happier."